Leg construction for furniture



' Feb. 13, 1934. s, HALLAWELL 1,946,620

LEG CONSTRUCTION FOR FURNITURE Filed Oct. 28, 1932 I III-5 INVENTOR WITNESS a n s zazzawezl, 93%? MFQ ATI'ORNEY Patented Feb. 13, 1934 UNITED STATES PATEN'B OFFICE Application October 28, 1932.

Serial No. 640,087

1 Claim. (Cl. 4511) a hinged mounting for a piece of furniture, such as a table, in which a locking pin is employed for retaining the leg in an inoperative or operative position with means being provided for grasping the pin to release the pin and permit the leg to be swung to a different position.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a hinged mounting for a leg of a piece of furniture, in which a U-shaped bracket is secured to the underface of the body and swingably supporting the leg, said leg being provided with a spring-pressed slidably mounted pin having the outer end of the pin projecting beyond the leg and equipped with a manipulating knob, the inner end of the pin having a rounded end to neatly engage a pocket formed in one of the flanges of the bracket for retaining the leg in an inoperative position, the leg being movable from such position by a suiflcient :force applied to the leg, a second pocket being formed in the flange to receive the projecting end of the pin for rigidly locking the leg in an inoperative position so that the knob may be grasped to release the pin against the tension of the spring from the last-mentioned pocket.

This invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description, in view of the accompanying drawing forming a part of the specification; nevertheless, it is to be understood that the invention is not confined to the disclosure, being susceptible of such changes and modifications which shall define no material departure from the salient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claim.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a view in perspective showing the hinged mounting and locking means for a leg of a piece of furniture,

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken along the line 2-2 of Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a view in perspective of a U-shaped bracket in which a leg is hingedly mounted.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, 10 designates the top of a table having the usual bracing bars 11 and 12 depending therefrom and these bars are secured together at their ends and to the top 10 in any well known manner.

A U-shaped bracket, generally designated by the numeral 13, is formed of metal and has a pair of spaced depending flanges 14 and 15. The

flange 14 is secured to the bar 12 by means of a lateral flange 16 provided with passages 1'7. Screws 18 or any suitable means are inserted through the passages 17 and intothe bar 12 for securing the flange 16 to said bar.

The flange 15 is provided with a passage 18 adapted to receive a screw or other suitable fastening means 19 for securing the flange 15 to the bar 11.

A pintle 20 is received by passages 21 and 22 formed respectively in the flanges 14 and 15 and has its inner end threaded, as shown at 23, and received by the bar 11 whereby the pintle is secured in position. The outer end of the pintle is provided with a head 25 which is slotted at 26 to receive a suitable tool for threading said pintle into the bar 11.

A leg 30 is provided with a transverse passage 31 which receives the pintle 20 and the opposite faces of the leg are braced by metal plates 32 and 33 and these plates are in flat contact with the inner faces of the flanges 14 and 15, respectively. These plates are secured to the side faces of the leg 30 by means of screws 34.

The leg 30 is provided with a second transverse passage 35 adapted to receive a locking pin 36. This pin has a reduced portion, as shown at 37, and is embraced by a coil spring 38. The rear end of the spring rests upon a shoulder 39 on the pin 36 while the opposite end of the spring engages the plate 32. The outer end of the pin projects beyond the outer face, of the leg 30 and is threaded at 40 to receive the internal threads of a knob 41. The extreme inner end of the pin 36 is rounded, as shown at 42, and is adapted to neatly engage a pocket 43 formed in the flange 15 of the bracket 13. The pocket 43 has its side walls rounded to conform to the curvature of the rounded end 42 of the pin 36 so that the free end of the pin 36 may be released from the pocket by oscillating the leg 30 when said leg is in an inoperative position.

The portion of the inner end of the pin, as shown at 44, is tapered slightly and is adapted to engage neatly a pocket 45 likewise formed in the plate but in spaced relation with the pocket 43. The pockets 43 and 45 cut across an arc of a circle which is defined by the free end 42 of the bar 36 when the leg 30 is oscillated on its 05 pivot 20. The pivoted portion 44 of the pin 36 projects sufliciently into the pocket 45 to prevent the pin from being forced from said pocket when it is attempted to oscillate the leg 33. In other words, it will be necessary to grasp the 11 knob 41 and reciprocate the pin outwardly to release the pin from the pocket 45.

In the operation .of the device the leg 30 is shown in an operative position for supporting a table or other piece of furniture. When in position the tapered end 44; of the pin 36 is seated within the pocket 45, thereby retaining the leg in rigid relation with the corner oi! the table. As has been stated, the knob must be withdrawn so that the pin 36 will be released from the pocket 45 and the leg may then be moved to an inoperative position and in close contact with the underface of the top 10 of the table. At this time, the rounded end 42 01' the pin 36 engages the pocket 43 in the flange 15.

when the leg is in an inoperative position, and the rounded end.42 engages the pocket 43, it is only necessary to grasp the outer free end of the leg and oscillate the same on its pivot 20 when the rounded end will slip from the pocket 43 without the necessity of manipulating the knob 41.

I claim:

A table having a top and bracing flanges depending from the underi'ace of the top, a U- shaped metal bracket secured to a flange a Jacent each corner of the table, a leg hingedly connected at one end to each bracket, means for hingedly connecting the legs to the bracket and comprising plates secured to a pair of the opposite faces of the hinged portion of the legs with the plates disposed between said faces and the side walls of the U-shaped brackets, the brackets, legs, and plates being provided with alined passages, a screw received by the passages and having its inner end threaded into one of the flanges for securing the bracket and a leg to the top and for adjusting the frictional contact between the plates and the side walls of the bracket, the brackets, plates, and legs having other alined passages, a pin carried by each leg provided with a shoulder and received by the last-mentioned passages, a spring embracing the pin and having one end engaging the shoulder and at the other end engaging a plateior maintaining the spring under compression, the passage in the other plate forming a bearing for the inner end of the pin, each flange adjacent a leg being provided with sockets to receive the inner end of the pin for retaining the leg in an operative or inoperative position.

WALTER S. HALLAWELL. 

